1. Technical Field
The invention relates to electronic communication systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a system for recognizing and accessing telephone numbers from databases distributed over an electronic network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electronic networks are increasingly being used to store and distribute a variety of data. Examples of such electronic networks include the Internet, and intranet systems. For example, a World Wide Web (Web) page may include text, graphical displays, video displays, animation, and sounds.
The Web is usually accessed via telephone lines by a modem-connected computer. However, the Web may also be accessed through other devices, including personal data assistants, fax machines, and Internet-capable telephones. One telephone that provides Web access is described in M. Valentaten, B. Moeschen, Y. Friedman, Y. -T. Sidi, Z. Blkowsky, Z. Peleg , Multi-Mode Home Terminal System that Utilizes a Single Embedded General Purpose/DSP Processor and a Single Random Access Memory, U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,940 (Oct. 5, 1993).
A Web page is encoded in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). An HTML document is a plain-text (ASCII) file that uses tags to denote the various elements in the document. An element may include an attribute, which is additional information that is included between tags.
HTML can be used to link text and/or images, such as icons, to another document or section of a document. The user activates a link by clicking on it, and the linked database is directly accessed. Links are used to access related information, or to contact a person or entity. However, information on a Web page must have the requisite HTML tags to be an active link.
Web pages often contain additional information such as telephone numbers. These phone numbers appear as informational numbers, for example, for customer service, marketing materials, further information, or for advertising. With the expansion of the Web, Web pages that specialize in providing phone numbers are being created. Such Web pages include directory services, white pages, and yellow pages.
However, these phone numbers are provided on the Web as text. HTML cannot be used to dial a telephone number over the Internet. Rather, the user must first search the text to locate a phone number. This search may be by visual inspection or by using a search engine to find a particular reference and its associated phone number. To access a number, the user must manually dial the number, or manually input the number into an automatic dialing program.
Furthermore, access to the Web is typically via a telephone line. If the user has only one telephone line, the user must disconnect from the Web before the phone number can be dialed. The prior art process for obtaining and calling a phone number listed on the Web is neither time nor cost effective, especially in a business environment.
It would therefore be an advantage to provide a system for recognizing telephone numbers from the World Wide Web. It would be a further advantage if such system if the system iconified telephone numbers to permit automatic dialing of a selected number. It would be yet another advantage if such system organized such telephone numbers to facilitate locating a desired number.